It's Been a While
by Mariele
Summary: A certain member of the gang left after elementary school, and 6 years later, a party brings her back. CA with sprinkles of TL and PK
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I currently don't own the Rugrats, but you all will be the first to know if anything changes!

Also, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on my other story! I just…had to write this while it was fresh in my mind!

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It was Friday night. The first Friday night since school had started up again. There was something in the air, other than the smell of the cafeteria food and gym lockers that is. It was the smell of adventure, of fun, of scandal, of something exciting that was going to happen tonight. The first party of the school year was imminent, and all the students could feel it. As the final bell rang, the sound echoed throughout the halls, sending the high school students into a frenzy, rushing to their lockers so not a minute could be wasted.

16-year-old and newly ordained sophomore, Tommy Pickles, was busy rummaging through his locker, trying to figure out the least amount of books he needed to bring home for the weekend. He kept getting distracted by the pictures of him and his friends that were hanging up inside his locker. He hadn't put them there though because boys typically didn't do that. His girl best friend Lil had hung them up the first day of school, insisting that his locker was too boring. Of course, Lil put a picture of her and Tommy in the center, bigger than all the rest, so she would be the first thing he saw whenever he opened his locker. He smiled at the picture. It had been taken at Lil and Phil's surprise 16th birthday party that he and Chuckie threw for them.

He and Lil both had icing from their cupcakes smeared all over their faces and were laughing hysterically. Tommy smiled. That was a good day.

"Hey!" Speak of the devil.

"Hey, Lil," Tommy peered around the edge of his locker door to see Lil DeVille. She was dressed in her cheerleading uniform with her dark, brown hair tied up in blue and red ribbons, in honor of the first football game of the season.

"Are you ready for tonight?" she squealed, bouncing a little in her tennis shoes.

"Oh yeah," Tommy straightened out his football jersey, "Bobby's party is going to be awesome. If only Bobby didn't have to be there,"

"Not the party, doofus, the football game! Although I'm pretty excited about the party, too." She admitted, scratching her cheek.

Tommy took her hand and held it to her side, "Be careful! That's my number you have painted on your face remember! You can't very well represent your quarterback and best friend if you rub it off."

Lil giggled, "Does this mean you'll paint my name on your cheek at cheerleading competition next month?"

"Sorry, but that spot is reserved for Stephanie," Tommy grinned proudly at the mention of his girlfriend of 8 months.

"How are you gonna fit her whole name on your cheek?" Lil teased, throwing a pom pom over her shoulder as she sauntered off to get ready for the game.

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17-year-old Chuckie Finster threw his shoulder pads on hastily, wincing from the impact. It was his junior year of high school and he was finally on the starting line up for his football team, unfortunately.

How had this happened to him? How did he, Chuckie Finster, end up playing football? Oh yeah, it was his punishment from Principal Anderson for having alcohol on campus. He claimed that if Chuckie had the time to drink, he had the time to play football. Firstly, it wasn't his alcohol, and secondly, the punishment really didn't make sense. If you're on the football team and get caught with alcohol, they kick you off. Where's the logic in that?

"Chuckie! Come on they're waiting for us!" Tommy tossed a helmet to his best friend.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Chuckie grumbled, stuffing his head full of messy, red hair into helmet. Even though Chuckie had lost his glasses and braces over the years, he still had hair that made him stick out like a sore thumb, which was fitting, because sore thumbs are red, too.

Tommy and Chuckie ran out onto the field, joining the rest of their teammates. The cheerleaders had already pumped up the students and parents who were screaming the names of the boys on the team at random. You couldn't make out exactly what was being said, but the volume was enough to get the team fired up.

"Go T-Man! Go Chuckaroo!" yelled 16 year old Phil DeVille, twin brother of Lil. He was jumping up and down on the bleachers, causing the bench to vibrate, annoying the girl sitting next to him, who happened to be the sister of Chuckie, Kimi Finster.

"Phil, you really should have just played football," Kimi groaned, "you're loud, obnoxious…you're perfect for the job!"

"You realize you're insulting your brother by saying those things about football players right?" Phil asked, running a hand through his spiky, brown hair, making sure it was still nice and pointy.

"If that's the price I must pay for insulting you, I'm okay with it," Kimi smiled proudly, "Now, can we just sit down and watch the game. You got me here without bribery, but I will not act like I'm enjoying it."

"What else would we do? All of our friends are here," Phil pointed out.

"We could hang out somewhere else." Phil was surprised at this. He sat down on the bench next to Kimi.

"But, you never wanna hang out with just me," he replied.

"I'd hang out with Spike before I resorted to going to a football game," Kimi laughed at her clever utilization of Tommy's dog to insult Phil.

"Well, too late, you're already here," Phil winked at her before standing up to cheer again. Kimi brushed her long, black hair in front of her face. Phil was way too embarrassing to be seen with right now.

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"You did great out there, Tommy," Lil smiled at him, batting her brown eyes at him as she playfully took a sip from her paper water cup, "I mean, for the 15 seconds you actually played."

"What can I say? My sport is a little bit harder than yours," Tommy shrugged, tapping her cup with his finger so the water trickled down the front of her uniform.

"Hey!"

"It's water, you loser," Tommy laughed, watching Lil run her hands frantically all over herself.

"So, where's Stephanie?" Lil raised her eyebrows mischievously.

"She went out of town this weekend, but I assure you, she'll be here for my next star performance."

"Whatever," Lil shoved him, "Hey, can I catch a ride with you and Chuckie to the party? Phil and Kimi left with Susie, like, the second the game ended."

"Of course," Tommy replied, "meet us at my car after you get changed."

"Awesome!" Lil turned around and skipped off, Tommy watching her all the way. He realized he was staring and looked away quickly. But why had he been staring?

"Hey, T, what's up?" a hand slapped Tommy across the back. It belonged to Bobby, the senior quarterback of the team, Tommy's competition, and the biggest jerk in school.

"Just gettin' some water," Tommy replied.

"Cool. You and Chuckster are coming to my party later, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be there," Tommy smiled through the utter detest he felt for Bobby. Sure, he was always nice to Tommy and all his friends, but he was a little too nice to nearly all the girls in school; way too nice for a guy who had a girlfriend. Given, he'd never met his girlfriend because she went to a different school, but Bobby talked about their great sex life at every football practice, in way too much detail to have been made up by a guy with half a brain.

"Great, see ya there!"

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Tommy and Lil stepped cautiously into Bobby's giant, three-storied house, currently lacking parental supervision and abundant in barbaric teenagers. It was their first real party, seeing as they had been freshman last year, and never got invited anywhere.

"Come on, guys, parties really aren't that big a deal," Chuckie shoved the two sophomores further into the house. He was usually the timid one of the group, but tonight, his friends were the ones who were entering new territory, and he felt as though he should use his experience to keep them relaxed. He was the kind of guy who would do anything for his friends, even if it meant acting like he actually enjoyed going to wild, drinking parties.

"Hey, Chuckie, isn't that your ex-girlfriend, Brittany?" Lil asked, pointing at a pretty, brown haired girl standing with a group of friends nearby.

"Uh," Chuckie took a step back, "on second though, they're a huge deal, and we should just go."

"Oh, no, Chuckie," Tommy grabbed him by the collar of his blue and white striped, button down shirt, "we are doing this, and didn't you and Brittany break up on good terms?"

"Does anyone break up on good terms?" Chuckie whined.

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"Hey, babe," Bobby snuck up on his girlfriend, whisking her up in the air and kissing her neck, "some of my teammates just got here and I want to introduce you to them. One of 'ems really good and the other one is gonna take over for me for quarterback one day."

"Okay, but only for you, baby," her dark, red lips curled up into a smile.

"Great," he grabbed her hand and led her toward Tommy and Chuckie.

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A/N: Hmmmmmm anyone care to take a gander at who Bobby's girlfriend might be?? (evil grin) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first part of my story! Review if you want, don't if you don't, either way I hope you'll come back for more!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I have all the Rugrats toys from Burger King. Does that mean I own Rugrats?

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18-year-old Angelica Pickles grabbed a drink and floated after her dreamy boyfriend, Bobby, who played football at the public high school on the other side of town. She was stuck at private school since Jonathan had insisted to her mother that she would get a better education there. She had been there since 7th grade, and finally, it was her senior year. All she had to do was get through 9 more months of private school and then she and Bobby could go off to college somewhere, together.

Two boys were turned around near the front door, looking lost and confused. One was tall with flaming, red hair and the other was shorter with jet black, spiky hair. Angelica snickered to herself at the sight of them. Two freshmen dorks no doubt, all nervous and fidgety at their first high school party.

"Tommy, Chuckie, this is the girl I've been telling you all about," Bobby said, putting his arm about her.

Holy. Shit.

Angelica tried to take a breath, but failed. Had they already recognized her? And how did her boyfriend know them? He was the coolest guy at his school. Did this mean that her cousin Tommy and his dorky friend Chuckie were actually cool now? She hadn't looked them directly in the face yet, maybe it wasn't too late to escape.

"Excuse me!" she screeched, running off down the hallway.

"She's not usually this shy," he laughed nervously, "Anyway, I'm gonna go see if she's okay."

"Okay," Tommy and Chuckie said in unison.

"Well, she was pretty hott," Chuckie observed, "She looks just like I would picture any girlfriend of Bobby's."

"How could you tell? I couldn't even see her face before she ran off," Tommy said.

"Yeah, but did you see her boobs?" Chuckie raised his eyebrows jokingly and Tommy laughed. They both wandered into the living room where Kimi was standing, talking to some guy.

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Angelica leaned against the wall of Bobby's parents' bathroom, sinking down onto the floor. If Tommy figured out it was her, he would surely tell his parents that he saw her there, drinking and partying. And then, seeing as his parents were her Aunt and Uncle, it would only be a matter of time before her own parents found out. They didn't even know she had a boyfriend. She had somehow managed to maintain her pristine image in her parents' eyes, and she wasn't going to let her childhood acquaintances ruin that. Plus, if Tommy and Chuckie were there, no doubt Phil, Lil and Kimi were there too, which made her chances of being seen much too great.

It was strange seeing them again, though she didn't actually see their faces. Just their presence brought back a flood of memories, memories she wasn't sure how she felt about. She had known Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, and Kimi from the time she was a toddler, all the way until she was 12, when she left for private school. They spent nearly every day of their childhoods together, yet she still wasn't sure she could call them her friends. Years ago she wouldn't even want to, but now, it seemed like so long ago that she didn't know how she felt toward them anymore. Plus, they probably still hated her for the way she treated them as children. She had been mean to them from the day they met, but even so, as much as she tried to pretend she didn't care, they were still a huge part of her life. One she had been disconnected from for over 6 years. It was easy to forget them all those years ago, but now, she was remembering.

She had changed so much since then. She wasn't mean anymore, but just as stuck up and spoiled as ever, though she blamed that one on private school. But she knew they would all expect her to be a jerk like she used to be so, how was she supposed to act around them?

This was too much to take right now. She had to get out. She needed to be as far away from them as possible.

She jumped to her feet and reached out her hand to open the bathroom door, but before she could reach it, it opened almost hitting her in the face.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here," a frantically apologetic voice came from the other side.

"That's okay," Angelica said, looking into the girl's eyes. It was Lil. She was sure of it. The big, brown eyes and pink bow tied into her brown, wavy hair gave it away. And she was pretty. Lil was really pretty, "just don't let it happen again!"

Lil's eyes narrowed as she stared Angelica in the face. Neither of the girls moved, Angelica silently reprimanding herself for snapping at Lil, while Lil's mind was reeling. That voice, the way she walked, Lil knew this girl was familiar.

No way…

Lil's mouth fell open and she raised a finger to point at Angelica.

Before Lil could say anything, Angelica brushed past her, "Ugh, get out of my way!"

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"So, Kimi, who was that guy you were talking to?" Chuckie questioned, in his best over-protective big brother voice.

"No one you need to worry about…yet," Kimi replied with a wink. Both boys groaned. They wished Kimi would just get a boyfriend and stop being so picky. She could have any sophomore guy she wanted, but for some reason, none of them were ever quite good enough.

"Hey, guys, have you seen my sister?" Phil asked, as he came up to the group, out of breath.

"I lost her, like, the minute we got here," Tommy replied as Chuckie just shook his head.

"Why?" Kimi asked.

"Well, she ran past me in the hall and she said she needed to show me someone, and so I ran after her, but then I got distracted and I lost her," Phil explained, all in one breath.

"Distracted?"

"Yeah, well, there was this girl…" Phil began.

"Say no more!" Kimi begged, "I'll go look for her. We have girl best friend telepathy."

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Kimi wandered around the house, pushing through crowds of teenagers, trying not to get stepped on or slammed up against a wall. She was very tiny and often found herself being tossed about like a boat in a hurricane. She really hoped not to find her best friend drunk and doing things with a boy that Kimi really didn't need to see. Lil had been pretty promiscuous ever since she joined the cheerleading squad in 9th grade, and Kimi being her best friend, was the only one who knew. She had promised her that she wouldn't tell the boys, but covering for her had gotten to be a very big chore.

"Lil!" Kimi shouted, spotting her taller-than-usual-because she-was-wearing-heels, best friend.

"Kimi!" Lil grabbed her by the shoulders, "I saw Angelica. She's here!"

"Angelica, as in…Angelica?" Kimi's eyes grew wider.

"How many people in this town do you really think are named Angelica?" Lil asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Are you sure it was her? I mean, lots of girls have blonde hair and blue eyes," Kimi reminded.

"I'm positive. I mean I didn't really think anything of her until she talked, but trust me, Kimi, I'd know that bitchy voice anywhere," Lil insisted.

Lil had clearly been drinking. Getting rid of Angelica had seemed too good to be true at the time it had happened, but now, it was as though she never really existed as anything but an occasional nightmare, and Kimi refused to believe she was back.

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"Does it feel hot in here to you guys?" Chuckie asked, tugging at his collar.

"For sure," Phil mumbled, his eyes following after two senior girls that had just walked by.

"Well, I'm gonna go get a drink," he said absently, not really expecting Phil or Tommy to notice him leaving.

Chuckie wandered over to the table where the drinks were, searching for one that looked like it hadn't been tampered with.

At that same moment, Angelica was leaning against the table, sipping from a plastic cup, waiting for Bobby so she could tell him she was leaving.

Chuckie glanced sideways for a moment, catching a glimpse of her long, blonde hair.

"Hey, you're Bobby's girlfriend, right?" he asked, smiling but avoiding eye contact with her, seeing as he didn't have his inhaler.

Angelica nodded. She was absolutely not going to look at him. But then, he looked at her.

"I'm Chuckie," he reached out his hand. Angelica took his it gently. It was big, and it made hers feel small. She didn't mean to look at his face, but somehow she couldn't help it. He didn't have glasses anymore, or braces for that matter. She had never really seen his eyes before, but they were nice. Green. His hair fell all around his face in odd directions, not in a messy way, but in a way that made him extremely cute.

'Woah, cute?' Angelica thought to herself. But, it was true. Chuckie had actually gotten cute. Really cute.

'Okay, Angelica, he's cute, now stop thinking about him that way,' she scolded herself.

"I play football with Bobby," he continued, since Angelica still hadn't actually said a word to him.

'Chuckie plays football?' she glanced at his chest. He had muscles. Chuckie Finster has muscles.

The two of them stood in silence a moment longer. She needed to say something, but her mind drew a complete blank. It was just Chuckie, and she was Angelica, who could talk circles around any boy until she had them under her spell. But, for some reason, right now she was speechless.

"Well, see ya around," Chuckie finally said, flashing her his best smile.

Her heart skipped a beat. Why was this happening? This is the boy whom she had been a bitch to since before she knew the meaning of that word. Sure, she was mean to everyone back then, but she paid special attention to him. Why? She never knew.

She smiled as she thought back to the day when she was in the toy store with all the babies, and she really wanted a certain toy. Her mom wouldn't let her have it, so she pretended to be her own twin sister, who was basically a nice version of herself, in order to get what she wanted. She remembered the babies thinking she really had a twin sister, and more specifically, Chuckie actually fell in love with her. Eventually, of course, her cover was blown and the babies figured out that she was pretending the whole time, but Chuckie still vowed that one day he was going to find her again and marry her. As annoying as the little twerp had been that day, something about what Chuckie had said made Angelica feel like he could see that there was good in her, even when others and even her own self couldn't see it. He had understood her better than anyone else, as sad as that may be.

But, that was then, and this was now. She needed to find Bobby before any more of her childhood playmates saw her.

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"I think we need to take Lil home," Kimi said as she walked up to Tommy, Phil and Chuckie, "she has that cheerleading thing in the morning and I don't want her hung over for it."

"How much did she drink?" Tommy asked, concerned.

"Enough to think she saw Angelica," Kimi laughed.

"Ugh, why would you bring her up?" Phil groaned, "I haven't even thought about her in years."

"Seriously, me too," Chuckie chimed in, though it couldn't be more untrue. She still gave him nightmares, how could he not think about her?

"You guys, it's really sad that you let someone like that ruin your entire evening," Kimi pointed out, "and she's not even here!"

"Well, maybe you weren't quite as traumatized by her as we were," Tommy said.

"Yeah, she picked on us longer than she picked on you," Phil chimed in.

"She was kind of like a big, scary monster," Chuckie added, "Like Reptar, only a million times scarier."

"You guys are pathetic," Kimi rolled her eyes, shoving her brother lightly.

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Lil spotted her again, reaching to the side to grab Kimi, but her hand just floated through the air. Where had Kimi gone? And why did everyone think it was so hard to believe that Angelica could be there? I mean, she was a real person, as much as they liked to pretend she was just a bad dream. And she did live in the same town, which really wasn't all that big. Well, she had faith that after all this time, and after all the time they'd spent together, Angelica would appreciate seeing her.

"Angelica?" Lil tapped on the girl's shoulder, "it's Lil…DeVille."

Angelica turned around. Sure enough, Lil was standing there, a good 2 inches taller than her, which was strange since she'd been taller than her for the entire duration of her childhood.

"Listen," Angelica sighed. It was too late to pretend they weren't aware of each other's presence, "what amount of money can I pay you to keep your mouth shut about seeing me here tonight?"

"Why don't you wanna see any of us?" Lil asked, "I mean I know you hated us when we were younger, but we've all grown up now."

"Correction, I'm grown up," Angelica snapped, "You'll always be a bunch of dumb babies to me. Now I'm leaving, and if I find out you told anyone I was here, I'll hurt you. Remember, I know where you live."

"You said we were your best friends once!" Lil shouted a last attempt to keep her there.

Angelica froze. She remembered that day. And it was true. They were the best friends she had when she was younger. And it was sad that she wasn't sure they even ever liked her.

"I lied," Angelica yelled, without turning around. She couldn't bear to look at Lil's face. She had always had a very pitiful face when she was hurt, which Angelica supposed was why she was the nicest to her back in the day.

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"So, Lil, seen Angelica around lately?" Phil teased, poking his sister in the stomach.

"Yeah," Lil sighed, "Forget her. She's still a Class A jerk. I guess I just thought she'd leave all that behind, you know? I mean, she's 18 by now, right? That should make her a mature adult, right?"

"Nah," Phil shook his head, "I've only got 2 years 'til I'm 18, and if I become mature by then, it'll be a miracle."

"Listen, guys, she's left her mark on all of us, but we don't have to let it control us," Kimi stood in the middle of the group, "She's in the past, and she doesn't deserve to be in our future. She may not have changed, but we have."

"Touching," Phil wiped a pretend tear from his eye.

"You're right," Lil smiled a bit, "but now, I unfortunately have an image of teenage Angelica yelling at me now too. Great."

"Wait, you talked to her," Tommy asked.

"Yeah," Lil nodded. Had they missed that part?

"Did she say it was her?" Kimi asked.

"Yes. It was Angelica, why don't you guys believe me?" Lil stomped her foot.

"So she really was here," Chuckie whispered and they all looked surprised.

"What did she look like?" Phil inquired, "More importantly, was she hott?"

"She was pretty, I guess," Lil shrugged, "She has the same hair and eyes. She actually looks really nice. I mean, she had a friendly face, and she was shorter than me, which makes her a little less intimidating."

"Was she shorter than me?" Kimi asked, hopefully.

Lil laughed, "Not even close. But she was wearing a really cute black dress. I wish I had asked her where she got it."

Chuckie immediately made a connection. The girl he'd talked to at the drink table, Bobby's girlfriend. Could that be Angelica? That girl was so sweet and timid, almost shy.

Chuckie nudged Tommy in the side, "You don't think she's Bobby's girlfriend, do you?"

"No," Tommy said, sounding unconvinced, "I mean, no way, that's not possible. Bobby always talks about the stuff they do, and I like to think of my cousin as a sort of non-sexual being. Like a chair."

Chuckie wrinkled his nose at this thought. Bobby did always talk about his girlfriend and all their "extra-curricular activities". Thinking of Angelica that way made Chuckie's stomach do flip flops.

At that moment, a blonde girl blew past the group heading for the front door. Bobby followed her yelling "Baby, wait, don't go yet."

Yep, that was definitely her. The kids all looked at each other in silent agreement. She was back, maybe not for the rest of that night, but, she was definitely back.

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A/N: Still no official meeting, but don't you worry it's coming! Trust me, it'll be grand. As always, if you have something to say please do, if not, come back soon for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I lost the auction to purchase the ownership of the Rugrats on ebay. Sad, I know.

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Tommy slowly closed his front door after tip-toeing in a little after midnight, which was his curfew. He thought he was home-free until Spike started barking.

"Shh, Spike," Tommy whispered. The lights in the kitchen came on. Busted.

"Tommy, is that you?" came the high pitched voice of his mother, Didi, who was padding down the hallway to the front door in her slippers.

"Yeah, Mom, sorry I'm late."

"Well, it's only 10 minutes past your curfew, so I'll let it slide," she yawned, sinking down onto a chair at the kitchen table, "come here a second."

Tommy stepped cautiously toward his mother, and sat down in the seat next to her. It was strange for her to want to have a heart-to-heart in the middle of the night.

"Where did you go tonight?" she asked.

"Just to a friend's house, with the whole gang," he smiled nervously, "and you know who we saw there?"

"Who?"

"Angelica."

Didi sat back in her chair. She hadn't spoken to her brother in law in years, and she was pretty sure her husband hadn't either. She wondered how they were doing, and how her niece was handling that new school they had sent her to.

"How is she?" Didi finally asked her son.

"I don't know, we didn't get to talk."

"Well, that's probably my fault for not keeping you more involved with your family members," Didi referenced a principal taught in Lipschitz's book on family, "Family is very important, you know."

"I know, Mom," Tommy yawned, "I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, honey," she called after her son. She was going to call Drew and Charlotte first thing in the morning, and hopefully arrange some sort of get-together. It would be nice to see the kids all together again.

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Lil walked in to homeroom on Monday morning about 4 minutes after the bell had rung. She slipped into her seat between Tommy and Kimi, and laid her head down heavily on her stack of books.

"Lil, are you okay?" Kimi leaned over in her seat, "you look like a zombie."

"Kinda. I've just been throwing up all morning. It stopped just in time for me to come to school, go figure," she huffed.

"Oh my gosh, do you think you're pregnant?" Kimi whispered excitedly in one breath.

"Don't even say that," Lil groaned. She was 70 sure she wasn't, but still, hearing it was frightening.

"Why not? Like 3 girls in Chuckie's grade are pregnant, or at least they were at one point. It's possible!"

Tommy caught the word pregnant, and decided this was a conversation he wanted to be a part of, "Who got knocked up?"

"I'm not pregnant!" Lil hissed.

"Well, duh, you have to have sex to get pregnant…and you don't even have a boyfriend," Tommy laughed, nudging Lil on the shoulder.

"Right, exactly," Lil laughed awkwardly.

"So!" Kimi shouted, poking her head around Lil to get Tommy's attention, "Have you talked to Stephanie yet?"

"No, but I have next period with her, so I'll see her then.

Lil looked down at her desk. She didn't like talking about stupid Stephanie. First of all, she was a freshman. Second of all, she was all giggly and air-headed. And third of all, she had really small ears. Lil, on the other hand was a sophomore with normal sized ears, and up until she started screwing around, she was really smart. It wasn't like she thought Tommy should date her, it was just that she was so much better than the girl he was already dating, and he didn't even notice.

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Kimi slipped into her usual seat at lunch, with her friends from her tennis team. She had second lunch, while the rest of her friends had first. Well, all of them except for…

"Phil?" Kimi asked, confused as Phil slid into the chair across from her, "What are you doing?"

"I'm eating lunch…that's what we're supposed to do at lunch time right?" Phil teased.

"Yeah but…here?"

"Yep, it looks like I'm here."

"Why?"

"At the football game on Friday, you said that we never hung out just the two of us," Phil shrugged, "So, I've decided that we should start."

Kimi giggled, "Phil, I've known you for 15 years…why now?"

"Ehh, all my other friends are busy," he winked as he took a bite into his sandwich. Kimi rolled her eyes and continued eating her own lunch. It wasn't like she didn't know Phil; they hung out almost every day with Tommy, Chuckie and Lil. But, hanging out by themselves was strange. It required them to actually converse about things, and to share thoughts, rather than just joking around casually. Kimi didn't know much of anything about Phil other than what he liked to do on the weekends and that he had an incredibly inappropriate and disgusting sense of humor.

'This is definitely going to be interesting.'

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18 year old Susie Charmichaels tapped lightly on the back of Chuckie's head with her pencil, "Hey, Chuckie, how was your weekend?"

The two of them were in Physics class, and the teacher was over 15 minutes late.

"It was fine," Chuckie said in a casual tone, "Went to a party…Angelica was there."

"Really? How is she?," Susie asked, "I haven't talked to her in almost a month.

"You mean, you've been keeping in touch with her?"

"Oh yeah, we're still tight."

"But…why would you wanna hang out with her? She's a jerk."

"Angelica?" Susie laughed, "Since when?"

"Since I've known her," Chuckie squinted his eyes at Susie. Was this some kind of joke?

"Oh, are you talking about when we were kids?"

"Well, the last time I saw her before last Friday was when I was 11, and she was mean then."

"But, Chuckie, that was when we were little. We can't all be held accountable for things we did when we didn't know any better. Everyone makes mistakes when they're a kid," Susie reasoned with a smile.

"So, are you telling me that Angelica isn't the most terrifying creature on earth?" Chuckie asked.

"Of course she's not! Well, I mean, she's still a spoiled brat, but she's not mean at all."

"So, you hang out with her?"  
"All the time! She's one of my best friends," Susie said, "I just haven't talked to her in a while 'coz we've both been so busy."

Chuckie pinched his arm lightly. Ouch! Nope, he wasn't dreaming. Susie, who before now Chuckie had always looked up to for being so smart, had actually claimed that Angelica was a nice person.

Suddenly, Chuckie couldn't sit still. He wanted to see Angelica, which was odd because he couldn't think of a single time in his life when he'd ever wanted to see her. He had to see if Susie was right, and he wanted to know what a "nice" Angelica was like. He wasn't exactly sure why; it's not like they were the greatest of friends in the past.

He decided he was going to go to her house after school. 6 years ago, the only way he would ever go to her house would be if a gun was held to his head. But, if she was so nice now, he shouldn't be scared, right?

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Tommy burst through the door of the Java Lava, the coffee house that Chuckie and Kimi's parents owned. Chuckie was standing behind the counter making drinks, while Kimi wiped off the tables.

"You guys! Major problem," Tommy said dramatically, sitting in a bar stool near Chuckie.

"What is it, Tommy?" Kimi asked.

"My mom has planned a family vacation for us at Thanksgiving break, and she called your parents, and Phil and Lil's parents, and invited you guys to come," he replied all in one breath.

"Sounds awesome!" Kimi said excitedly.

"Yeah, where are we going?" Chuckie asked.

"No, it's not awesome," Tommy grew serious, "It's a family vacation…my mom invited Angelica and her family too, since they're my family."

Chuckie's face turned white. His heart beat rapidly. Why did Tommy have to bring up her name? He had been trying to forget the girl he'd just seen less than 3 hours ago, and he finally almost had…almost. Why, oh why, had he gone to her house? What was he thinking? He should have known better.

"Ahh!" Chuckie yelled as the banana smoothie he'd been making splattered all over his face. Even when she wasn't actually around, Angelica made his life difficult.

"Chuckie!" Kimi shouted, running over to her brother, "What's wrong with you today? You've been acting weird since you got here!"

"Umm, hello?" Tommy whined, "Did you guys not hear that Angelica is coming with us?"

"Oh, I heard you," Chuckie groaned.

"Yeah, but what can we do?" Kimi asked. Leave her to be annoyingly positive.

"Something," Tommy sighed, "Anything! I feel like we just got rid of her and now she's back, just like that. She was the only person that could ever actually scare me."

"So don't let her!" Kimi said triumphantly, "How many times do I have to tell you scaredy cats? We're bigger that her now…well you guys are. She's nothing special, so let's stop letting her ruin our day, okay?"

"Kimi, if you make any more speeches like that, I'm gonna puke," Tommy said, holding his stomach and pretending to be sick.

"Whatever," she laughed.

"Hey, where's Phil and Lil?" Chuckie asked.

"Lil is at Ryan's house and Phil is with his mom," Kimi laughed, "She's making him go clothes shopping."

"What's Lil doing with Ryan?" Tommy asked.

"Why do you know what Phil's doing?" Chuckie asked.

"Chill, guys! I just know everything!" Kimi skipped off to the back room to get more towels for the mess Chuckie made, leaving the boys with their troubling thoughts.

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Why am I still writing this, seeing as I only have like 4 readers? BECAUSE I LOVE THEM! Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, the next chapter will be coming soon…and it's a juicy one! We still haven't heard about what exactly went down with Chuckie at Angelica's house after school…but we're gonna find out!


	4. Chapter 4

Well, much like the title of this story, it's been a while since I've updated

Well, much like the title of this story, it's been a while since I've updated. Sorry about that! I hope you all are still with me on this!

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Chuckie slowed his pace as he neared the house he hadn't seen in 6 years. He hadn't taken his eyes off the place since it had come into view a few minutes back. It looked exactly the same; smaller maybe, but the same. His confidence level seemed to drop with every step he took, and he began to doubt his decision to pay an old friend a visit. It wasn't fair, the impact Angelica still had on him. He shouldn't have to be scared anymore. He had grown up a lot since the last time he'd seen Angelica. He had girlfriends, 3 of them, one of which was very serious. He played football, and he was actually pretty good. He was attractive now; at least, a few people other than his step mom and Kimi had actually thought so.

He finally reached the foot of her driveway. It wasn't as big as he'd remembered, much like the house. Her dad's silver Corvette was in the driveway, right next to a Mercedes of the same color. That couldn't be Angelica's car, could it? She might be spoiled, but she couldn't be that spoiled. Suddenly, Chuckie felt a rush of relief. Maybe she wasn't home. Maybe he could just turn right back around, and pretend this never happened. Maybe he might not have to risk losing his dignity forever.

"Is that Chuckie Finster?" came a voice from somewhere nearby, "You've gotten quite tall there, Sport."

Drew Pickles, Angelica's dad, ducked under the garage door, carrying a hammer, and walked toward Chuckie.

"Hi, Mr. Pickles," he waved a little, "You seem a lot taller, too."

The two exchanged a laugh, but grew awkward quickly as Drew finally reasoned that Chuckie couldn't possibly be here to talk to him.

"So what brings you by?" he folded his arms and rocked back on his heels.

"well, sir, I was just passing by and I thought I'd stop and say hello to Angelica," Chuckie said nervously, "I haven't seen her in a while. I just thought I'd see how things were going."

"Uh huh," Drew narrowed his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't trust Chuckie. He knew what a good kid he was. However, he also knew his daughter's history with his brother's kids and their friends. It was one of the reasons Drew and Stu had kept them all apart for so many years. Angelica had been an angry child, and he thought she just needed a fresh start. It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to his daughter. She stopped picking on people, stopped name-calling, and she really started to open up and make a lot of friends. In short, she grew up. Now, Drew wasn't so sure about this boy from those not-so-great years in his daughter's life. She had made so much progress, and he didn't want to see her go through all that again.

"So, is she here?" Chuckie asked, breaking the silence.

"No, she's not," Drew lied, "but I'll tell her you stopped by."

"Okay," Chuckie replied, "thanks."

"No problem," Drew smiled, "Well, I'm off to pick up dinner. Have a good evening, Chuckie."

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Angelica watched as her dad got into his car, and drove off. Chuckie was still standing there. What had just happened? Why was Chuckie here? Why was he talking to her Dad? And worst of all, what did he say?

Her heart starting racing as she wondered if Chuckie had mentioned the party. Or Bobby. Or the way she was dressed. Or what she'd been drinking.

Then, her heart beat even faster. Chuckie saw her looking out her window. Their eyes met briefly, and she quickly ducked. Now what? Would he come to the door? She peeked over the windowsill again, only this time, she saw him turned around, walking away. She gasped, and before she knew what she was doing, she was racing downstairs and flew out her front door. No way was he going to tattle on her and then just walk away.

"What the hell are you doing here, Finster?" she demanded, catching up to him, "And why were you talking to my dad?"

Something about her calling him "Finster" made him feel tingly. At least, it certainly didn't have the same effect as when his football coach called him that. It made him nostalgic, in a sort of twisted way. And although she'd always been yelling when she called him that, it still made him feel special. It had been so long since they'd interacted this way, it was almost nice. It was much harder to take her seriously now than it was when they were kids. As she stood in front of him, hands on her hips, about 5 inches shorter and a hundred pounds less than he was, she was certainly not threatening in the least.

"Relax," he chuckled, "I didn't say anything that could get you in trouble."

Did he just laugh at her? She was seriously upset right now, and he's just giggling like it's not a big deal. Not that he didn't have a cute smile. She groaned and put her hand to her forehead.

_Oh no, not again. Angelica, you've really got to stop thinking about Chuckie and cuteness at the same time._

"What?" Chuckie asked, looking right into her eyes. He seemed so concerned; it was almost as if she actually cared about what her response to that question would be. Other boys hardly ever cared about anything, or even asked her questions for that matter.

"None of your business," she snapped, "Why are you here?"

Chuckie gulped. Okay, maybe he'd spoken too soon. That glare that he'd had many, many nightmares about had returned to her light blue eyes with a vengeance.

"I just came by to say hello," he said uneasily, "We didn't really get to talk much the other night."

"Maybe that's because I don't want to talk to you," she hissed. Oh no, what was happening? Something about Chuckie just made her old personality pour out with no intention of stopping. It was like she wasn't in control of her own words. It had been so long since she'd acted that way, and she really, really didn't want to.

"Fine, whatever, Angelica," Chuckie hissed back. Susie was wrong. Angelica hadn't changed, and she wasn't ever going to change, "I don't know why I didn't expect this out of you."

"I don't know either," she raised her voice a little.

_Stop, stop, stop, Angelica. Why are you driving this boy away again? He's the only one who ever believed you could change, and he was right. Let him see that._

"You know, your personality really doesn't match your looks," Chuckie was getting angry now, "You really should fix that before you hurt someone."

"What does that mean?" Angelica frowned.

"It means you're beautiful," Chuckie said, immediately regretting it, "on the outside."

Angelica just stared at him. She has absolutely no idea what to say. Chuckie Finster just told her she was beautiful. Never mind that it was the most backhanded compliment she'd ever received. Chuckie whom she had teased relentlessly for their entire childhood, who, sadly enough, was her best friend she'd ever had as a child, who knew her better than anyone else on the entire planet had just called her beautiful. And it cancelled everything else out.

She took a cautious step toward him, and kissed him. It happened so quickly, she wasn't even sure it happened at all. But it did. She could tell by the expression on his face. His cheeks were glowing pink, and she was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing.

"You're right," she stared up at him quickly, then looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry."

She turned quickly and made a beeline for her house. She had no idea why she'd just done that. Now what was going to happen? It's not like she even saw him on a regular basis, which was good. Or was it? Maybe she wanted to see him. No. Maybe. She was so confused. She had never thought of Chuckie as anything other than a friend, if even that. Of course, she knew he'd be the best friend she could ever ask for, but she was much too afraid of letting him in like that. He knew way too much about her already. He knew her entire childhood, which was more than she could say for any of her current friends, except maybe Susie. He'd even seen her naked when their parents used to bathe them all together, of course, he certainly wouldn't remember that. Right?

Finally, up in her room, she flopped down on her bed. Her stomach had butterflies that size of elephants, and her mind was racing. This just couldn't happen. She didn't want to be mean to Chuckie anymore, but what other choice did she have? She couldn't be who she was now because then Chuckie might actually like her, and that was out of the question. Chuckie was the kind of boy who was kind to girls, who would talk to them about everything, and would ask them about their day. He would treat them right, never try to make them do something they didn't want to do, and would respect them. He was the kind of boy Angelica dreamed of having one day, but was so terrified of the thought that she could be so happy, that she vowed never to let it happen. Especially with Chuckie Finster. Even if he did have the most amazing look in his eyes when he asked her what was wrong, and even if he did have an adorably cute smile, she still couldn't think of him that way. She quickly put the thought out of her mind and turned out her light. If she stayed awake any longer tonight, her mind would wander, and if her mind wandered she would think about things that could never happen. She sighed as she snuggled down into her comforter at just 4:35 in the afternoon.

"Angelica?" a knock and a creak followed, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, Mom," she turned her light back on, "what is it?"

"Well, your Aunt Didi called me just a few minutes ago, and she wanted to know if you'd be interested in going with her and Uncle Stu and Tommy and his little friends to Vegas this weekend since you all have Monday off of school," her mom smiled, "Of course I told her you'd love to go."

"Wait, Vegas?" Angelica questioned. Vegas on any night of the week sounded wonderful, but with her family? And Phil, Lil, and Kimi? And Chuckie? Uh oh.

"No way, Mom, I don't want to," she shook her head.

"Oh, sweetie, I know your father is hesitant to let you see them, but you've come such a long way since then," her mother said calmly, sitting down on the foot of her daughter's bed, "I think it would be good for you to spend some time with them again. You can never underestimate the value of friends you've known your whole life."

"But, Mom," Angelica, to her mother's surprise, and her own, began crying, "they all hate me. And I don't blame them. I was mean to them, and they aren't going to give me a second chance. I don't deserve one anyway."

"Oh, honey, that's not true and you know it," Charlotte reassured her, "You just need to let them get to know the real you; who you are now. You're different now."

"I'm not so sure," Angelica sniffled, and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"well, I already told Didi you were coming," her mom stroked a piece of her blonde hair, "and I promise you that you won't regret it."

Angelica knew there was no arguing with her mother. Until she was out of the house, her parents made sure that she lived under their rules.

"But why Vegas, Mom?" Angelica asked with a little giggle, "That just doesn't scream family vacation to me."

"You were probably too young to remember" her mom replied, "but that's the first place you all went on vacation together when you were little. Didi and I thought it would be sweet to go again; sort of like a reunion."

"Oh," Angelica nodded, as the memory of tigers and dancing around on stage and singing flashed through her mind.

The loud ringing of Charlotte's cell phone traveled all the way into Angelica's bedroom from her office downstairs.

"I hear Jonathan calling," her mother excused herself, "Just think about it, sweetheart. You won't regret it."

Angelica reached into her backpack for her cell phone. If she was going to have to go through this, she was going to make sure that Susie would be there. Susie had a warm presence that just made everything seem better. Plus, if she hung around Susie the whole time, maybe no one else would bother her.

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Chuckie opened the door to the Java Lava, let Kimi walk out, and then closed it behind him. He fiddled with the keys in an attempt to lock it as he replayed the events of just 5 short hours ago over and over in his mind. Every time he got to the kiss part, his heart skipped a beat. Out of fear though he was sure; certainly not because the thought of kissing Angelica actually appealed to him.

"Chuckie? Are you okay?" Kimi put her hand on her brother's shoulder, "you can tell me if something's wrong you know."

He smiled, "I know. I'm just tired." It hurt him to lie to his sister, but he knew that she would be appalled to find out he had been fraternizing with Angelica. And once Kimi knew, Lil would know, then Phil would know, then Tommy would know, then Dil would know, then Susie would know, and they would all have him committed. No, there was no way he was telling any of them about what happened that night.

"Well, when we get home, will you help me pack for this weekend?" she asked, "Then tomorrow I'll help you pack, and then we can go out and do something after school on Friday instead of having to pack all night."

Chuckie narrowed his eyes. It wasn't like Kimi to have a plan about anything, and it definitely wasn't like her to be so organized.

"Do you have plans on Friday, Kimi?" Chuckie asked, grinning, "with a boy perhaps?"

"No!" Kimi responded quickly, "I just want to have some fun before we have to leave for the vacation from hell on Saturday morning."

Oh right. Chuckie had almost forgotten about that announcement that Tommy had made a few hours ago when he came into the Java Lava. Chuckie's stomach ache came back quickly as he though about an entire weekend with Angelica. Was she going to be mean to him like usual? Or would he get to see this "new" Angelica everyone was talking about? And what about the kiss? Oh, the kiss. As short and insignificant as it probably was to her, it was still something Chuckie never, ever thought would happen. Would everyone find out about it? Would she even acknowledge that it happened? That seemed like something Angelica would do. Maybe the world would never know.

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Well, there you have it. Chapter 4! I'm really enjoying this story again, and I have a good idea of where I'm going with it now, so I hope I'll be able to update more often. Thanks for waiting, everyone! I hope this made up for it a bit. Review if you like! After all, the most recent review I got was what inspired me to continue lol. So thanks!

And don't worry…though I've changed Angelica quite a bit in this story, I still have a strange soft spot for mean, nasty Angelica, and trust me, she'll be back!


	5. Chapter 5

I will own Rugrats one day! Seeing as Nickelodeon clearly doesn't appreciate them anymore…

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"Morning, sunshine," Tommy chuckled as Phil came into view, leaning to the side in a painful looking way, a large number of suitcases slung over his back.

"Yeah, okay," Phil huffed, dropping the bags at the top of Tommy's driveway and falling on top of them.

"Phil," his twin sister shouted as she closed the door to the van and waved goodbye to their mom, "be careful with those!"

She bounced up the driveway and smacked him in the arm with her tiny purse.

"See, the fact that that didn't hurt at all shows me that you don't have enough to carry," Phil muttered angrily.

"Thank you, dear brother," she said sweetly, hopping up on the back of Tommy's car where he was already sitting, "Hey, you ready for…uh…wait a minute. Where are we going?"

"Vegas," Tommy grinned.

"No way!" Phil exclaimed.

"Yeah," Tommy said, "my mom said we went there a long time ago when we were little, and she thought we should go again. It's gonna be like a 'for old time's sake' thing."  
Phil got up from his spot on top of Lil's six suitcases, "We're going to Vegas? With your PARENTS?"

"Oh, that is lame," Lil nodded in agreement.

"At least we're going somewhere cool, though," Tommy nudged Lil in the arm, "and I bet we can sneak away at some point."

"We can?" Lil asked, her heart beating rapidly at the thought.

"Yeah, we can all go to a club or something," Tommy shrugged.

'Oh, all of us,' Lil thought, a little disappointed.

"How are we gonna get into a club?" Phil laughed.

"I think we can!" Tommy jumped up off the car triumphantly, "I don't see why not! We'll find a way. It's vacation. It'll be like an adventure."

"Oh, no, what's going to be an adventure?" Chuckie asked, putting down two suitcases next to the pile.

"See, look at what a good brother Chuckie is being, carrying his sister's suitcase without complaining," Lil pointed out.

"Yeah, her one suitcase," Phil retorted, "You brought six!"

"I brought five!" Lil shouted back.

"Oh, okay then, silly me!" Phil yelled even louder.

"Yeah, Phil, be a good brother," Kimi tousled Phil's hair as she bounced over to Lil and they both began giggling at something unknown to the boys, as usual.

"Susie's here!" Phil exclaimed with excitement. He knew she would be the one girl who wouldn't tease him or make fun of him or injure him on this trip.

"With Angelica," Tommy said flatly as his cousin hopped out of the passenger seat of Susie's car that had just pulled up on the curb.

Chuckie's throat ran dry. He flopped down on the pile of suitcases with Phil, hoping he would somehow blend in and go unnoticed. Lil looked away awkwardly, avoiding eye contact at all costs. After her encounter with Angelica at the party, there was no way she would understand the secret that Lil was hiding. Although, a best friend probably wouldn't understand either. Kimi twirled the blue streak of her dark, black hair around her finger, popping her gum and tapping her foot in an attempt to look casual. Tommy just sat there, not really sure what to expect, but he certainly wasn't afraid of his own flesh and blood.

"Hi, kids!" Susie exclaimed after a solid 10 seconds of awkward silence, causing them all to jump, "are you ready for a weekend of nonstop fun?"

They all nodded seriously.

'Be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice,' Angelica repeated over and over in her head as she pulled her bright pink suitcases from Susie's car. She began dragging them toward where the kids were standing, and saw all their faces. Tommy looked indifferent, Phil looked sick, Lil looked uncomfortable, Kimi looked confused, and Chuckie looked terrified.

"Oh, get over it, I don't bite," Angelica snapped, throwing her stuff down next to them.

"Oh, good, everyone's here!" Stu exclaimed as her burst through the front door, fanny pack and visor in place and ready for takeoff.

"We're not going to Disneyland, Uncle Stu," Angelica laughed.

"Oh, my niece," he ignored her comment completely as he leaped over to her and gave her a big squeeze, "it's so great to have you with us again."

"I know," Angelica smiled sweetly.

"Angelica!" Didi squealed, running over to her and grabbing her face in her hands, "oh look at you! You look so beautiful."

"Thank you, Aunt Didi," Angelica glanced sideways at Chuckie to see if this had gotten his attention at all. He had called her beautiful just a few nights before, and it was all she could think about since then.

"Oh it's so wonderful to have all you kids together again," Didi beamed, clasping her hands together, "We're all going to have so much fun!"

The kids groaned a chorus of "yeah" and "sure" and other undistinguished noises, except Susie, of course, who shouted "we sure are!".

"We're all loaded up!" Stu rubbed his hands together in excitement, "How about I take the boys with me and Didi, you can drive the girls?"

"Shotgun!" Dil shouted, as he climbed down the rope extended from his second floor bedroom window "Aw, man, so close!"

"What?" Phil asked Tommy.

"Who knows?" Tommy replied.

"Alright, guys, sorry but Marvin called shotgun first," Dil shook his head, climbing into the backseat of Stu's van, "I was close though."

"Dil, we can't just make Dad drive us all the way there with no one in the front seat," Tommy scolded, "He's not our own personal limo driver."

"I know, Marvin's sitting in the front," Dil responded casually.

Tommy groaned and crawled in the backseat, followed by Chuckie and Phil.

"Who's Marvin?" Chuckie inquired.

"His imaginary something," Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Your brother is so cool," Phil said sincerely, greeting Marvin with a 'hey man' as he got into the van.

Tommy and Chuckie burst into laughter as the van pulled out of the driveway and began on its journey to Las Vegas.

"So, Phil, how was shopping with your mom?" Tommy grinned.

"What?" Phil's cheeks turned light pink, "how did you guys know about that?"

"Kimi told us," Tommy nudged him.

"Man, I knew she was gonna tell everyone!" Phil crossed his arms.

"Why would you tell Kimi that anyway?" Chuckie asked, his protective big brother voice out in full force, "I wasn't aware that you guys were keeping secrets from the rest of us."

Phil didn't really know how to respond to that, so he made a joke instead, "Well, we're obviously not doing a very good job."

"Hey speaking of secrets," Tommy took advantage of the opportunity to ask about Lil's choice of after-school activities, "What was Lil doing at Ryan's house the other night?"

"I don't know," Phil shrugged carelessly, "She's with a different boy practically every day. How can I be expected to keep up with that?"

"What?" Tommy's voice grew concerned, "You're her brother. You should be looking out for her."

"Yeah, there will be a serious ass-kicking in store for anyone who messes with my little sister," Chuckie agreed.

Phi was suddenly feeling cornered. He hadn't done anything to Kimi, yet he was feeling extremely nervous. He decided to turn this little conversation on Chuckie, "Well, where were you guys on Thursday?"

"What was Thursday?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah," Chuckie said nervously. He remembered Thursday night better than anything he'd experienced in the past year of his life.

"Um, the same night I went shopping with my mom and Lil hung out with Ryan," Phil replied, "I figured we should all share what we did."

"I was at the Java Lava with Chuckie and Kimi," Tommy shrugged.

"Yep," Chuckie nodded.

"Before that," Phil added.

"I was doing homework," Tommy said.

"Me too," Chuckie replied in a high-pitched voice.

"He was at Angelica's," Dil said, laughing, and turning around to face Chuckie, "You forget, I have eyes everywhere."

Tommy and Phil's necks almost snapped as they stared wide-eyed at Chuckie, who slumped down in his seat.

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Meanwhile, things in the girls' car were much quieter. Didi was driving happily, bopping along to her oldies that were playing softly on the radio. Susie sat in the front seat with her headphones from her ipod in her ears, mouthing the words to her favorite songs. Kimi and Lil were pressed closely together in the backseat, and Angelica sat next to them, looking out the window.

Lil and Kimi glanced quickly at Angelica and then to the back of Susie's seat. Angelica glared at them, and then back out the window. They had been going on in this manner for the past half hour, and Kimi was growing bored of it.

"So, Angelica, how's private school?" Kimi broke the unbearable silence.

"It's just like normal school," Angelica replied, "only worse."

Kimi nodded, and after a few moments, she continued, "Is it fun being a senior?"

"Not really," Angelica said, "it's actually kind of depressing. It's like one long goodbye."

"What do you mean?" Lil finally chimed in, her voice sounding as though all her hopes and dreams had just been shattered.

Angelica's face softened a little, "It's just, you know when you get into a fight with a friend, and you always make up afterwards? Well, once you're a senior no one bothers apologizing for anything because they figure you're all going your separate ways soon anyway. So it's really like you just lose your friends one by one."

"Wow," Lil sighed, "I hope that doesn't happen to us."  
"It won't," Kimi squeezed Lil's hand, "our brothers are best friends. Face it, we're stuck with each other for life."

"What about Tommy?" Lil's voice grew smaller and more concerned, which Angelica picked up on quickly.

"Well, I'm sure he'll stick around too," Kimi giggled.

Angelica narrowed her eyes. Something was going on with Lil and her cousin.

"Hey, speaking of Tommy, my boyfriend Bobby tells me he's a pretty good football player," Angelica said. Lil suddenly lost her breath. Why'd she have to bring Bobby into this conversation? Did she know? Was she trying to get it out of her? Oh, but Tommy was a good football player. Lil's concern about Bobby faded as she thought about Tommy.

"He's great," Lil smiled. 'Yep, something's going on with Lil and Tommy,' Angelica thought.

"I think he only plays to impress his girlfriend," Kimi added.

"My little, dorky cousin has a girlfriend?" Angelica laughed.

"Yeah, he's dating this cheerleader, Stephanie," Kimi replied.

"But, she's just a freshman, and she really isn't very pretty," Lil pointed out.

"What are you talking about? Stephanie is only the most popular girl in the whole freshman class!" Kimi chirped.

"Well, Chuckie is actually a better football player than Tommy anyway, and his girlfriend isn't even a cheerleader," Lil suddenly grew angry, "So, maybe Tommy is just shallow."

"Wow, even Chuckie has a girlfriend," Angelica said, trying her best to sound casual, but failing miserably, which Susie took notice of. The girls hadn't seen her taking her headphones off at the start of their conversation.

"He broke up with Brittany last week, remember?" Kimi reminded her best friend. Lil's mood was changing even more rapidly than usual. Something was definitely up with her.

Angelica breathed a sigh of relief. She shouldn't even care if Chuckie had a girlfriend or not because she had a boyfriend. And even if she didn't have a boyfriend, Chuckie was free to do whatever he wanted. She didn't care.

"Speaking of Chuckie," Susie suddenly chimed in, "Angelica, have you talked to him lately?"

Angelica laughed nervously, "No, Susie, don't be ridiculous," she glanced over at Kimi and Lil who were staring at her curiously, "Why?"

"I dunno," Susie grinned, "he was asking about you the other day at school. I thought maybe you two had been talking." She turned back around in her seat and smiled, satisfied. She loved Angelica to death, but making her squirm would always be fun.

Kimi eyed Angelica suspiciously. Chuckie had been acting extremely weird ever since they ran into Angelica at that party. I mean, he was always awkward and uncomfortable, but he'd been taking it to new levels recently. Levels she hadn't witnessed since she was 10 years old. Only one girl could bring out that side in Chuckie, and that girl happened to be sitting right next to her, shifting around in her seat, her cheeks turning redder by the second. Oh, did her brother have some explaining to do!

"The boys are pulling over at the rest stop up ahead," Didi interrupted their thoughts, "Do you girls need to stop, too?"

"No!" Lil and Angelica shouted. Each of them had their reasons for wanting to avoid certain boys in the other car.

"Yes!" Susie and Kimi shouted. Both girls needed to talk to Chuckie, for two very different, yet very similar reasons.

"Okay, well I guess that means I'm the deciding vote," Didi giggled happily at her wittiness, "I vote yes! We're stopping!"

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"Woah, Mr. Pickles, what are you doing?" Chuckie asked, breathing irregularly.

"I have to use the little boys' room, Chuckie," Stu laughed. He could be so clever.

"What's the matter, Chuckie," Tommy grinned, "You nervous about seeing your new girlfriend?"

"Okay, Angelica is definitely not my girlfriend," Chuckie insisted, "Just because Dil thinks he saw me at her house that does not mean I was there!"

"Well, you sure are being defensive about something that never happened," Tommy pointed out.

"Oh, you wanna play that game?" Chuckie suddenly gained courage, "When are you gonna tell Lil about the fact that you've been in love with her since 6th grade?"

"What!" Phil exclaimed, "Tommy, what did you do to my sister?"

"Oh now you're protective?" Chuckie raised his eyebrows, "Interesting."

"I didn't do anything to Lil," Tommy insisted, "You know I wouldn't! And plus I have a girlfriend that I love, not Lil."

"So my sister's not good enough for you?" Phil was taken aback.

"No, she's a great girl, Phil, I just don't see her like that," Tommy said.

"Yeah right," Chuckie scoffed. Tommy glared at him. How dare he tell Phil about his crush. He'd told Chuckie about that at summer camp between 5th and 6th grade. Plus, that was, like, 5 years ago. He was so over it by now. Right?

The van pulled into the rest stop, followed by the girls in the car behind them. The kids all piled out; some pissed off, some depressed, and all of them uncomfortable. When had their simple lives become so complicated? That damn party, that's when!

Dil, the only one who wasn't directly involved in the drama, decided that the opportunity to share his secret knowledge was presenting itself in a much too perfect moment to let it pass by. He had been hiding in the bushes across the street from Angelica's house that fateful day, setting up his alien communication device for use later that night. That was when he saw Chuckie outside, and then decided to watch for a little while, as it could get interesting. And, oh, did he have some dirt on them now. And what better a time to share it?

Dil skipped up to the group, and stood in the center of them. He went over to Chuckie and put his arm around him, shaking him in a sideways man-hug, "So, Angelica, is my boy Chuckie here a good kisser?" Dil smiled proudly as he watched everyone's mouths drop open one by one.

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Well, that's all for now. Sorry, this chapter didn't have any new interesting occurrences. I needed a filler chapter to build the drama and tension between everyone so that the future events would really shake things up. I finally have a vision for this story, but I'm warning you, it's gonna be a long one…I hope everyone's still with me! Review if you wish (it really does help to know what everyone thinks), and keep reading!!


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